Sea Bright drops lease talks for former mayor’s land

SEA BRIGHT – The borough has stopped negotiations with Jo-Ann Kalaka-Adams to lease land on which the former mayor owes back taxes.

Mayor Dina Long told residents at Tuesday night’s Borough Council meeting that borough officials are no longer talking with former mayor Jo-Ann Kalaka-Adams to rent land she owns on Peninsula and Ocean avenues. The borough wanted to use the site as a temporary fire station.

Instead, the borough will place the temporary fire station on a section of the beach parking lot, which sits next to the old fire station at 1099 Ocean Ave. Sea Bright Fire Department had to move its equipment out of that building after it was condemned because of damage from superstorm Sandy.

The borough backed away from the deal with Kalaka-Adams after residents balked at paying the former mayor $4,500 per month and paying to make improvements to her land.

It will cost Sea Bright $93,495 to build the structure for the temporary fire station. Building on the Kalaka-Adams property would have cost another $63,000.

Using municipal land also saved Sea Bright the rental payments.

In addition, Sea Bright will place the temporary borough library on the parking lot, dropping an idea to rent space until the beach pavilion, which will have space for the permanent library, is built, Long said.